


Don't Be Jealous

by Asasin



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Best Friends, Canon Related, Developing Relationship, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Implied Relationships, Jealousy, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Romantic Friendship, Some Plot, Some Tagged Characters Are Only Mentioned, Tags Are Fun, Zer0 Has Emotions, it's cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 09:05:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6188482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asasin/pseuds/Asasin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Axton and Maya have been getting closer. Zer0 becomes increasingly jealous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Be Jealous

Zer0 squares his shoulders as he approaches the Runner MG. He holds back the urge to display his displeasure through a hologram and opts to ignore the duo. This is one of several times he’s seen Maya and Axton hanging out… together. Laughing. Axton smiling that handsome, crooked smile, Maya leaning in towards him and personal space disappearing out the metaphorical door with it.

Their time together seems to be increasing to a disturbing level.

Zer0 smacks his forefinger into the Catch-A-Ride dial harder then he needs to. He could pretend it doesn’t bother, pretend he doesn’t care, but he does. He really does. Axton is his bestie. Why is he hanging out with Maya so much now? She is funny and beautiful, but isn’t he? Perhaps he’s not beautiful, but he likes to think he has a sense of humor—however askewer it seems to be, Axton seems largely amused by it.

He flips around with the buttons until he’s got his Runner fitted with a machine gun and the Inferno paint style. It’s not that he doesn’t like Maya. It’s quite the opposite, really. She’s cheery, caring, and has a laugh even he finds to enjoy. But she’s treading in his territory.

Another Runner pixilates besides the one May and Axton so happily converse by. He understands the concept of sharing—well, it is a relatively new practice, but he gets the basic idea—but there are some things people do not share. It would be just as well if May and Axton continue their friendship as before, but whatever they’re excavating into how appears to be much more than mere friendship.

While Zer0 has never been in such a relationship, he has certainly been able to observe the common behaviors and actions involved. He’s quite certain he can relate many of these observations here and now. He turns and walks towards the Marcus’ ammo and weapon boxes, where Salvador has happily planted himself for the last five minutes.

He giggles rather maniacally as he purchase several more grenades. Zer0 leans over him and selects the option for sniper ammo. Salvador is too busy gathering up his grenades to really care about being loomed over. As Zer0 collects his ammo, Salvador proceeds to buy some shotgun ammo.

As Zer0 starts checking his other weaponry’s ammo quantities, he wonders how Sal could possibly take so long to purchase something so simple. He closes his inventory, watching Sal stare at one of Marcus’ shotguns—it’s the new weapon of the day with a price to match. “Hijo de puta,” Sal grumbles. “Hey amigo,” he turns, “loan me 3K so I can get this.” Zer0 deadpans him. “Don’t look at me like that,” Sal accuses. “I’ll pay you back. Come on, amigo: This is a once in a lifetime chance!” Zer0 doubts it.  
“Fine. We ride together, though. I require someone for my turret.” Normally Axton rides with him, and they switch between driver and turret, but he seems so occupied. “Yeah, yeah…” Salvador dismisses, rubbing his hands together. Zer0 transfers the money and waits for the purchase to be made.

“Look at this baby!” Salvador crows, brandishes the gun by waving it around like a child with a new toy. Zer0 casually avoids the barrel, used to the man’s flippant ways with weapons. “Let’s go,” he simply says, heading back towards his Runner. Salvador follows, still ogling over his gun. By now it’s only too obvious he loves weapons as much as Krieg loves the idea of riding a meat bicycle.

Maya and Axton are still busy talking as they approach. Zer0 noted they’d started talking unusually quietly when he’d walk to the ammo dump. He makes sure to appear uninterested by them, but he stares long and hard as he crosses to his Runner. “Ooooh,” Salvador laughs, “I like your style, amigo!” He climbs up the Runner and drops into the turret. Zer0 pauses, wondering if he’ll be able to see well enough to actually see anything he’s shooting at… No matter, though, he can easily dispatch any targets with the Runner’s front machine guns.

He nimbly throws himself into the driver’s seat. “Amigo,” Sal calls over the machine gun. Zer0 displays a question mark on his hologram and glances over his shoulder, only able to barely see his co-pilot’s Mohawk. “You should let me drive.” Immediately the ninja recalls the hectic scene of Gaige screaming bloody hell while Sal roared around the landscape, barely keeping the vehicle in check. Anyone who hadn’t known it was Sal in the driver’s seat would have immediately assumed some random psycho was trying to kill himself and his passenger.

“No,” Zer0 quickly decided. He enjoys crazy sometimes, but not that crazy.  
“If you’re thinkin’ of that time—“  
“You cannot use your shotgun and drive at the same time.” Salvador falls silent, muttering something after a few seconds. Zer0 turns to Maya and Axton. “We are leaving. Meet us in Lynchwood.” The duo turns.  
“Krieg and Gaige will probably be a while longer,” Maya says. Zer0 doesn’t particularly feel like explaining himself and definitely doesn’t want to stand around waiting any longer. Krieg makes him uneasy, and he’s certain Gaige thinks he’s a robot that she needs to be take apart. “It’s shotgun-o-clock!” Sal hollers at them like it’s the most obvious and logical thing. Then to Zer0: “Vámonos!” Maya shrugs.  
“Yeah, you better go ahead,” Axton says, watching Salvador stroke his shotgun. “We’ll catch up.” He grins at Zer0: “Be careful.” It’s more of a tease than anything, because, of course, he’s going to be careful. Zer0 nods curtly, and his foot slams into the gas. Salvador screams like a gleeful maniac as they fly out of the station.

)0(

The ride to Lynchwood is largely unentertaining, except for turning a few skags into road kill and a few pit stops at some local bandit shacks for Salvador to go loco at with his new “baby”.

The bandits in The Dust are always a lively, particularly crazy bunch. As he weaves around like a maniac, Zer0 is reminded why he hates buzzards. Salvador, on the other hand, seems to be having an absolute blast. His violent screams are almost deafening. He swings the turret and generally fills his targets up with bullets far more accurately than Zer0 had originally thought to give him credit for.

He weaves out of a head-on collision with a bandit tech. “Watch where you’re goin’ pendejos!” Sal hollers. He laughs as he lights up their tech with the turret. “Can you feel it?!” he screams as the vehicle spins out of control and starts barrel rolling. Zer0 doubts they can hear him, but he knows the point is invalid.

When they do finally arrive at the fast travel station for Lynchwood, Zer0 seriously wonders why they didn’t upload the location while they were in The Dust before. He studies the desert for any straggling bandits that might try to make them road kill as Salvador negotiates climbing out of the turret. He slaps his upper back: “We should drive together more often, amigo! That was great.” Zer0 studies the mad grin on his face. There’s no doubt this guy was born and raised on Pandora.

He walks up to the fast travel to initialize their travel. As he hits “travel”, he wonders what Axton and Maya are doing. The world goes blank for a moment has the station scans and pixilates his body. After a brief moment, he reforms in Lynchwood’s train depot with Salvador next to him.

Despite himself, the assassin hunches his shoulders in annoyance. Why does Axton want to spend so much time with her anyway? This whole thing came out of nowhere, really. At first Maya and him were just the normal on-polite-and-nice-terms before suddenly this jump into something more. It happened right while Axton and him were becoming so close, too. He hasn’t had many friends before, but he’s certain he feels something special towards Axton.

Zer0 is no expert in relationships, but he has observed the proper and normal social functions of friends. If anything, he’s exceeded those functions. And Axton seems to enjoy his company so much.

Why is Axton pushing him away now? He hasn’t done anything wrong, has he? That misfit soldier is really his true and best friend. He doesn’t want to loose that when he’s only just learned how beautiful and special such a thing is. An emoticon appears: “:’(“. It makes him sad enough the hologram can’t be helped.

“What’s buggin’ you, amigo?” he glances down at Salvador. The hologram disappears.  
“It is nothing.” Salvador snorts, hands on his hips almost giving him the appearance of a hairy, gorilla-like mother. Zer0 starts towards the ladder. He’s not particularly keen on the grilling he knows is coming.

Without waiting for Salvador, he starts up the ladder. Close behind, another is question heard, “So, this is about Axton and you, isn’t it?” Zer0 keeps walking. He didn’t hear anything as far as he’s concerned. “Ah-ha, I knew it!”  
“I have said nothing.”  
“That’s why I knew, amigo.” Just from his voice, Zer0 can tell Sal is smirking: smug of his psychic powers.  
“You guessed.” This earns a snort.  
“It was obvious.” Zer0 tilts his head slightly as he reaches the top of the stairs. Obvious? He supposes that is possible. He’s gotten rather loose around their group—particularly around some people. “Let me lay out for you, amigo,” Sal continues. “You look like a kicked puppy every time you see Ax and M hangin’ out.”  
“This is an over exaggeration.” Zer0 walks up to Zed’s vendor and starts pecking at the buttons to start browsing the shields.

Sal leans against Marcus’ ammo box. He stares at Zer0 the whole time he shops. The assassin turns to him with a hologram: (=_=). Of course Salvador doesn’t care: he’s too dense. Zer0 sighs and turns to Marcus’ gun vendor. His interest perks when he sees a sniper rifle is the gun of the day.

Hmmm… nope. 

The rifle he already has does 25% elemental damage, while this one does 20%. Besides… he “loaned” Salvador the 3K he would need to buy it. While money is acquired rather easily in Pandora (given the right job), it’s also, unfortunately, just as easily spent.

Salvador hums, lifting himself off the ammo box. “You’ve got it bad, amigo. You’ve got it real bad.” Zer0 turns. He’s got something? Like a sickness? “What have I got/ is it bad/ is it contagious?” Salvador starts barking in loud laughter.  
“If it’s contagious I’m leaving!” he manages, between a breath. He starts hammer on Marcus’ ammo box: “Haaha! Contagious… bad…” Zer0 watches him, not amused in the least. How is his sickness funny? He rather hopes Marcus has a safety precaution for when his vendors start getting hammered on like that…

He whinces as a grenade pops out of the vendor. Salvador falls silent and freezes, meeting what appears to be Zer0’s gaze. A second pauses before they both suddenly run and throw themselves down the nearby stairway. They catch a bit of a backlash from the grenade that sends them flying to the bottom.

Fortunately their shields had taken most of the grenade’s blow. Although hitting the floor is quite another story…

“You are fat/ please/ get off of me.” Salvador rolls away with a groan. He leans against the wall and wipes away a thin streak of blood slipping from his nostril. “What a pendejo...” Zer0 considers reminding him that he was the one that triggered it in the first place, but decides it would be pointless. So he stands up instead, testing out his limbs to make sure everything is okay. Everything appears to be in good shape. He bends leans over, offering Sal a hand. It’s accepted, and Zer0 pulls him up. 

Zed and Marcus’ vendors are probably fine, so Zer0 doesn’t really feel like checking out if Marcus also has some sort of automatic machine gun turret for the survivors. He continues down the hallway and out of the depot.

Lynchwood is like a futuristic, post-apocalyptic version of Earth’s early western lifestyle. That is, of course, the town looks like a dump, as most places in Pandora do. Zer0 scans the congested town, kneeling as he counts several bandits wandering about. They’re easy targets… too easy.

Salvador approaches. More grilling? “You’re jealous.”  
“I do not get jealous.” Salvador leans against a pile of metal boxes.  
“And skags don’t shit out of their mouths.”  
“Get to the point.”  
“Axton doesn’t like M like that.” Zer0 turns. He considers whether or not he should even entertain this conversation, as it will only undoubtedly make it longer. But Sal has perked his curiosity, so he decides he will… for a little while anyway. “What do you mean by this?”  
“There’s a different between gettin’ in someone’s pants and bein’ their friend.”  
“Axton would not fit Maya’s pants/ Is this saying then/ that has a sexual reference?”  
“That’s the way I’ve always seen it.” Zer0 considers the new information. This is palatable to hear, but is it true? Salvador is… well, he could be wrong. “How do you know this to be true?”  
“Because, amigo, he would’ve bagged and tagged er’ by now.”  
“There are other feelings/ feelings that require patience/ that are unconditional.” Salvador starts playing with his Mohawk, making sure it’s still pointy and straight. “That’s why he likes you so much.” Zer0 stiffens, turning abruptly to look at him. Salvador peers back, looking pleased to have surprised him—admittedly something nearly impossible to do.

Zer0 turns away to look back at the bandits. They’re still dilly-dallying, occasionally yelling at each other. He stares hard as the train rattles out from behind them.

Axton likes him? He doesn’t like Maya like "that"? Then why is he hanging out with her so much? He hasn’t seen this behavior before. He supposes there is a chance Salvador might know…

“If this were true/ why spend so much time/ time with someone else?”  
“Might be because he wants to make sure he’s not loco for falling in love with a robot.” Zer0 immediately lets Sal know what he thinks of this: -_-. “Gaige is simple-minded/ to believe one theory without proof/ she leads false assumptions.”  
“Alien. Pyscho that cut off his fingers. Whatever.” Zer0 ignores him, too busy considering the possibility of Axton being distant because he likes him so much. It’s strange, but he’s seen it before. And if Axton likes him that much, does he like him back just as well?

Zer0’s certainly never gotten as attached to someone before. He cannot deny the emotions that make him feel like he’s bonding with Axton in a special way. And he certainly cannot deny the way it makes him feel to know that Axton regards him in such a special way, too. It makes him feel… strange, but not in a bad way.

“The “it” you spoke of earlier, it is not a disease is it?” Salvador snort-laughs. That seems answer enough. Zer0 remembers Axton make mention of his ex-wife… perhaps it is a disease for some. Maybe Axton is not ready or is, perhaps, apprehensive to fall for someone again? The sensation many describe as “butterflies” tickles inside his stomach.

Immediately he wishes Axton were here, so he could make certain the soldier knew he wasn’t angry with him. The state he left seemed to leave them in a somewhat questionable disposition. (After all he always rides or drives with Axton and exchanges teasing words or a smiley face hologram in the rare instance they go with another person or are going separate ways for a bit.) If the soldier is already feeling apprehensive enough the assassin doesn’t want to make it worse.

“I thank you/ this information/ it has been enlightening.” Salvador shuffles and shrugs, for once seeming a little awkward. “Let’s go kill something,” he adds, displaying a face on his hologram: >;). He needs to loosen up before Axton gets here and sniping helps him think. The awkward evaporates. “Now you’re talkin’, amigo!”

)0(

_Meanwhile, after Zer0 and Salvador had left…_

Axton’s smile sinks as he watches the unlikely duo of Zer0 and Salvador buzz off. Did he say something wrong? Has he been saying the wrong things? For the past few days Zer0 hasn’t been acting his usual self. Granted he’s still an odd figure, but Axton has gotten his personality somewhat figured out—figured out enough to know when the assassin isn’t acting himself.

It seemed to have started when he started hanging out with Maya more. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out way either. “He’s jealous isn’t he?” Maya asks. “It’s kinda cute. For someone like him, I mean.” Axton would agree if being jealous didn’t mean acting like a wild skag instead of a domesticated one. Zer0 has been being elusive for Pete’s sake.

Alright… that’s unfair. Axton knows he’s been being elusive, too. It’s for a good reason, though. It makes him feel like an ass, though. Zer0 really has every right to be upset… jealous. Axton just suddenly started being weird on him.

“Well, you should probably go after him.” Maya slides off the Runner’s tire. Her lips pulls to one side when she sees the look of nervousness cross Axton’s face. “I’ll just wait here for Gaige and Krieg. We’ll catch up later,” she coaxes. It was funny how he could go from being jovial and joking to quiet and discontent so quickly. “Yeah… yeah, okay,” he replies. “I just… I, uh, I’m not sure what to say, you know?”  
“Nope. I don’t really know.” Axton groans. “You’re just breaking the ice, right? What’s so bad about that?”  
“I’ve already made the mistake of making a big deal of it.” Axton pulls his hand down his face. “Ugh... I’ve already done this before, and it didn’t turn out.”  
“Yeah, but Zer0’s different. Really different.”  
“Fuck, for all I know I could be falling in love with a robot.” Maya chortles, undoubtedly thinking of Gaige’s attempts to take Zer0 apart. “We don’t know that. Besides, you’re falling in love with what’s on the inside, right?”  
“Hm. That’s poetic.” Not entirely true, though, since Axton can scarcely keep his eyes off Zer0’s long, limber body and finely toned ass. Especially his ass when his jumpsuit hugs it just right…

Axton clears his throat. He sides glances Maya to make sure she doesn’t suspect anything. Thankfully she’s watching the dust from Zer0’s Runner settle. His situation can’t be that far off from hers. She’s got a giant psycho hitting on her. If that doesn’t make falling in love with a robot assassin right then he doesn’t know what does.

“Alright, I’m going,” he says without letting himself think about it. Now he has to do or look like even more of a foolish coward. Maya grins at him, “Atta boy.” She steps out of the way as he climbs into the driver’s seat. “Just be careful. Those Dust bandits are some crazy bastards.” Axton smirks, seeing Salvador’s potty mouth is wearing off on her. “Will do.”

According to Zer0’ Hell-bent speed that jealous, crazy ninja is probably already half way to Lynchwood by now. Well, Axton figures as he starts the Runner’s engine, at least he’s not in any rush. “Hey! Aren’t you gonna take any healing hypos?” Maya yells before he hits the gas. “Pfft, nah! I’m not gonna stop and have tea with any psychos,” he shouts back. She shrugs and waves him off before he slams on the petal.

Zer0 certainly knows how to tear up the roads. As Axton arrives at the fast travel out of Three Horns Valley to The Dust, the dust from the assassin’s Runner has already very much settled.

Arriving at the Dust always pumps a little adrenaline into Axton. It’s a sandbox version of Mad Max. Bandit techs, buzzards, spiderants, and bandits on the ground make it a dangerous adventure just to get across to Lynchwood’s fast travel.

Man, what idiots they were to zoom around The Dust and not just stop there to upload the location. It would be much simpler, especially since everyone wants to go: to look for loot, check out a wild west town, and see what kind of lunatic would marry Handsome Jack.

“Whoa! Didn’t see ya there,” Axton laughs as a spiderant crunches under his wheels. Four others pop-up screaming holy hell, but the Runner buzzes by before they can do anything else. Axton zooms past the junk heap piled in front of Ellie’s garage before bandits suddenly start erupting from the arid landscape.

A bandit tech flies past in front of him, and Axton clips the ass end. At their speed it’s enough send the tech spinning and for Axton to fly off his course. He grips the steering and manages to pull the wheels straight again. “Fuck,” he growls, as a buzzard appears next. Seconds later its unloading on the Runner and the tech is making another come around. The tech starts throwing giant buzz saws and lead at him.

The Runner starts eating up more metal than it can take, and Axton shield is following suit. He pops a grenade and throws it high over his shoulder, hoping to catch the tech. The gun/buzz fire get hilariously of target as the tech probably swerves, but soon it’s back to being as accurate as the bandits can get. The Outrunner starts smoking in no time.

Axton slams on the gas petal as the tech rams into his bumper. “No tailgating asshole!” he roars. He hears a maniacal laugh and almost looks up too late. A midget psycho is reared up over the driver guard with his buzz saw raised. “Shit!” Axton swerves hard and the psycho goes flying, squealing like a piglet. “No hitchhikers either,” he huffs.

Axton thrums his fingers on the steering wheeling, knowing the Runner is about ready to quit. He jolts as the tech jams into him again. Not to mention he’s loosing vital speed. He glances at the knob for the booster. The fuel gauge is full. He’s can crank-up to some real speed anytime now. He’s nearly to the fast travel. That burst of speed could take him ahead; he could hit the teleport, and be gone before these bimbos could get their stockings straight.

He grabs the knob, but instead of pulling it, he lets go and grabs at the buzzsaw fitted into his shoulder. He grabs at the psycho—this time not a midget—and plants his knuckles into the bastard’s white mask. The Runner swerves dangerously without a driver, but Axton puts in several more frenzied punches before pushing the disorientated bandit away and taking the wheel again. The psycho grabs onto the side of the vehicle, screaming, “I need your head for my merry-go-around!!”

Axton jerks the booster knob, and the Runner’s burners scream into action. The bandit tech and buzzard fall behind as well as the psycho, who falls under the tires of the tech.

)0(

_Meanwhile, in Lynchwood…_

“You are small/ but your pride is large/ perhaps to much so.” Salvador flips him off, staying huddled behind the pile of rumble. Zer0 sighs, reloading his sniper rifle. If he had an electric elemental charge then this bandit would be such a problem, but since his Maliwan is erosive the shield eats up the bullets.

“Fuck you, pendejo! Fuck you!” Sal screams for the millionth time. Zer0 sighs, but he can see how the little man is getting so pissed. This guy is badass, and his half a dozen minions aren’t making the situation any easier. They’ve been pinned down under fire for several minutes now, waiting for an opportunity to turn the tables.

“Does this prick ever reload?” Salvador asks. His knuckles are turning white around his shotgun. Zer0 wonders how long it’ll be before he decides to pop some steroids into his bloodstream and go, as he says, “gunserk”. As for reloading, however, he knows this so-called badass has reloaded several times. He’s guzzling ammo as fast as rakk shit piles up on a turbine brake.

Another message from Deputy Winger echoes in, warning all citizens about withholding information about vault hunters.

Zer0 hears a break in the badass’ fire. It hardly seems there’s enough time for a second to pass before the assassin has thrown his decoy and is dashing across the field of play.

The several bandits hidden behind cover have no chance to react, besides a few surprised screams. Zer0’s sword slashes as their vitals until all, but one are piled up. He charges the badass. By this time said badass has had time to realize the ambush and the other assassin out front is a decoy. He starts unloading on Zer0, and the assassin rolls out of the way.

Zer0 kicks up the gun and stabs the badass. Unfortunately his armor is thicker than anticipated, and the assassin is knocked away as he tries to recover his sword. Nevertheless, he substitutes with his kunai and spears the first into the badass’ hand, followed by rolling backwards to throw the other three into his neck. The badass stumbles backwards, grabbing at the kunai with a gurgled cry.

Zer0 is back on him in an instant, yanking his sword free and finishing the kill with one clean stroke.

The assassin takes a moment to admire his handy work before seating himself on top of the sandbags some of the bandits had been using for cover. “Little rabbit/ there is no need to hide/ the foxes are dead,” he says. He watches Salvador’s head pop-up:  
“Eh?” He stands up. “Humph. I was just about to do that,” he growls, looking indignant at being referred to such a cute n’ cuddly animal.

Salvador looks around before joining Zer0 in the open. Well, technically it’s not an opening, but rather a large gash between the buildings. It’s more than adequate room for the both of them to be seen and sniped by any bandits around, however. Since Lynchwood is small enough that most everyone in town would have heard their gunfight, it’s quite possible somebody might come to investigate (check for loot that is).

Hence, Salvador and Zer0’s watchful eyes about them. “I require a new shield,” the assassin says, breaking the temporary silence. “Follow or stay.” Salvador, who had crossed over to Zer0’s side, is busy picking the bandits’ corpses. He gestures for the assassin to go on. Zer0 doesn’t wait for him to have any second thoughts and trots off.

He sneaks past a few patrolling bandits. They don’t seem overly interested in the gunfire minutes ago. Gunfights are probably run-of-the-mill, expected proceedings here, though. As easy targets at they would be, Zer0 opts to entirely ignore them and creeps into the train depot. Once of outsight, he lets his guard drop a bit.

As he starts up the stairs he pauses.

What’s that?

He hears a scuffling noise, as if someone is laboriously walking, dragging his feet. He slowly unsheathes his sword, careful not to make a sound. Just as attentively, he stalks up the stairway. “Fuck…” he hears a man groan. But he immediately recognizes that voice. It’s not just any man—it’s Axton!

In a flash Zer0 sword is back on his back and the assassin is at the top of the stairway. There he sees a dusty looking soldier looking at him in surprise. A slow, stupid grin spreads over the man’s face. “You are hurt,” Zer0 states, even though its as plain as day. He stares at Axton’s shoulder for a brief before ordering Zed’s vendor to spit out a healing hypo the next. (Thankfully it has an automatic shielding defense system, so Marcus’ own defense system didn’t destroy it.)

“Let me see,” Zer0 commands, standing over Axton with the hypo.  
“Ah, shit, it’s not that bad,” the soldier jokes. His pale complexion and heavy reliance all the wall really seem to suggest otherwise. Zer0 administers the hypo and pushes him to a sitting position on the floor. He kneels beside Axton, looming so close they nearly touch.

“You are alone/ yet you were waiting/ what happened?” Axton looks up at him; his grin has disappeared. The man looks serious, anxious even. “Well,” he starts. “I got caught up in some road rage with some bandits in The Dust.”  
“Why not wait/ find safety in numbers/ find a safer route?” Axton coughs awkwardly. He gingerly tests his shoulder, relieved to find the hypo is successfully numbed it. “It’s, uh… it’s just…” He stops. Ah, shit… this is a lot harder than he thought it was gonna be. “Well, you see—!” He gasps in utter shock as he feels Zer0’s helmet visor press into the side of his head. “I have never felt fear/ fear like this…” the assassin says quietly.

Axton is stock-still. Zer0 was… afraid? Because of him? For him? Because of his wound? He’s never seen this… this caring side of Zer0. He swallows. He feels the visor pull away, and he turns to face the assassin. “Maya and me… we’re just friends, you know? Nothin’ more. I… uh, I just wanted to talk to her about something.” He picks himself up a little, peering into Zer0’s black visor. He can see nothing, but a glimpse of his reflection in the slightly dusty screen. Lifting a hand he slowly brushes his fingers down the smooth visor. Beneath his fingers the assassin doesn’t move a breath.

Axton leans in, placing a kiss on the visor. It feels stupid, because of the barrier, but at the same time it’s still feels powerfully intimate. He registers Zer0 lean into him a bit, which makes him feel better. He pulls away: “I really hope you’re not a fucking robot,” he whispers with a small grin. Zer0 hologram shines in his face: “\\\\\\\\\\\\\”.  
“Whoa, love birds!” Salvador shouts, just coming up the staircase with an armload of guns. Axton doesn’t care, and Zer0’s “:)” emoticon actually makes him feel all the better about the jest.

**Author's Note:**

> According to previous stories a lot of readers seem to enjoy Axton/Zer0, so I decided to write another one. :)
> 
> And if you’re like me and only know a few emoticons (which means looking up the rest), here’s what some of them mean:  
> (=_=) Means ---> Tired  
> :’( Means ---> Sad w/teardrop falling from eye  
> ////// ---> Blushing
> 
> I'm juggling an idea. If I started a blog on Tumblr for story requests at the price of a coffee would you be interested? You tell me the story you want (fandom, category (m/m, f/m, f/f), characters, relationships, and additional details), and I write it.


End file.
